The music of The Velvet Sundown band was created by artificial intelligence. However, it already has 1.5 million fans.
In recent weeks, the music scene has been experiencing a surge of interest in the work of the band The Velvet Sundown. There would be nothing strange about it if it hadn't turned out in reality that it was created by artificial intelligence. However, this is certainly not the only case - the faces of famous bands Boney M or Milli Vanilli may have looked good, but someone completely different sang their parts for them. The domestic group Lunetic also caused controversy in the past.
The music project The Velvet Sundown only came into being at the turn of June and July. However, it achieved a lot. It released two albums and has already gained about 1.5 million fans on the Spotify platform. From the beginning, however, the band was accompanied by a number of controversies that aroused great suspicion - photos of the members appeared unnatural. The band has not yet performed in public anywhere.
Artistic provocation
The streaming service Deezer meanwhile noted the following on its pages about this band:
"Some tracks on this album could have been created using artificial intelligence."
The group, who stylize themselves into the 70s due to their appearance and musical style, under pressure, confessed on Spotify that artificial intelligence indeed gave birth to them.
"It's not a joke, it's a mirror. An artistic provocation, the goal of which is to question the boundaries of creation, identity and future of music itself in the age of artificial intelligence,"
introduced Velvet Sundown on the online platform.
Whether the project is the work of an individual or a group of people is not yet clear. The creator remains anonymous and is profiting from steadily increasing popularity. Listeners, however, don't mind. Currently, it is said that almost a fifth of the music that gets onto Deezer daily is entirely created by artificial intelligence. Up to 70 percent falls into the category of "counterfeit music."
The website Music Business Worldwide recently identified 13 artists that were supposedly created by artificial intelligence. The country project Aventhis, metal band Devil Inside, or the project Nick Hustles, which draws inspiration from soul legend Marvin Gaye, are allegedly listened to by millions of people every month according to this source.
The producer was mainly behind the groups Milli Vanilli and Boney M
In the past too, the public didn't really bother to find out if their favorites were real stalwarts, or simply fake. Perhaps the most glaring example is the work of producer Frank Farian, who was behind the projects of Milli Vanilli and Boney M. Hits like Girl I´m Gonna Miss You or Rivers of Babylon have indelibly inscribed themselves in the history of modern popular music, but for some of the protagonists who publicly presented them, over time they became a literal nightmare.
Milli Vanilli was a duo composed of Fab Morvan and Rob Pilatus. However, someone else sang the songs instead of them. In addition to Charles Shaw, there were several other vocalists that Farian mixed and electronically modified to make the songs appealing enough.
However, fame claimed its toll when Pilatus got involved in a series of robberies and became drug-addicted. Although Farian paid for his treatment, in April 1998 he was found dead in a hotel room. He probably overdosed on drugs.
Boney M on stage was formed by a duo of quality Jamaican vocalists, complemented by a British model. The visual aspect was also taken care of by her male counterpart - the captivating Caribbean dancer Bobby Farrell. Eventually, it broke out that his singing contribution in the studio was provided by Farian himself. The members of Boney M stayed together for several years, during which they also visited the Eastern Bloc, and then broke up.
The Lunetic Case
At the beginning, the boy band Lunetic, whose debut album from the late 90s also originally featured singer Dalibor Kaplan, did not escape hiding the reality. The record then broke long-standing sales records and sold out tours caused hysteria throughout the country. Kaplan claimed that he had sung a significant part of the songs for the group and that his voice sounds from playback at concerts. It should be added that the publishing company subsequently confirmed his involvement itself.
Show business is often about sharp elbows. Various intrigues, slanders or counter-services were and are common. However, the emerging trend of artificial intelligence is changing the entire music environment beyond recognition. It doesn't matter anymore if we are presented with performers who may not even exist at all. Only one thing is necessary - advanced technologies that will arrange everything important.
Sources: author's text, ČTK, Reflex, Deezer, Spotify, Music Business Wordwide
